Talk Back and You’re Dead!

Ever heard anyone tell you those same lines, “talk back and you’re dead!?” You’d probably be terrified to death if he’s a gangster with 13 gang mates on his tail. But you may not take him seriously if he looks like a Bench model oozing with perfection from head to toe. ;)

Such is the dilemma of beautiful, rich, popular, and ace student from an all girls school Miracle Samantha or Sam to everyone who knows her. And the lucky guy is a supposedly unworthy Lucky 13 gang leader named TOP or Timothy Odelle Pendleton from Pendleton (yes, it’s his family’s school) High which is known to be the school of delinquents. But despite his flaws, again, he looks perfect. And she, amidst her own perfection has “it” in her. The “it” referring to the gangsta attitude slapping Top in public after thinking her best friend was screwed by him. And there were several other scenarios displaying Sam’s “don’t mess with me” attitude.

Although it was only her best friend Michie’s prank, along with cousins Maggie and China tagging along, the slapping in public was a phenomenal, destiny sort of first meeting for Sam and Top (although several references say they have met before as kids aged 6 and 8 in the U.S. where the little princess in a play punched her partner prince). Being the first to not revere him but even slapped him at that, it was a turn on for Top and this is where their roller coaster love story started.

Unlike most rom-coms where the plot slowly progresses towards the finale when characters eventually become BF-FG, TBYD does the opposite. The hero-heroine becomes boyfriend-girlfriend right away and the rest of the book revolves around that as they fall deeper in love with each other amidst constant arguing, gangster action moments (kidnapping, escaping, delinquency, etc.), and the “you and me against the world” conflict, although it was only a few who’d come between them including Lucky 13’s arch nemesis gang leader Lee (in underground basketball) who incidentally is Sam’s cousin. Even their opposite personality is a conflict in itself. But at least there were several characters that helped out including Red dela Cruz, Top’s best friend who is a Casanova.

Despite several conflicts, you’d find “kilig” moments from start to finish with lots of kissing. ^_^ Speaking of which, TBYD is a more daring as compared to its current popular counterparts in the Pinoy rom-com novels industry these days, like Diary ng Panget or DNP for one (characters are 19 years old) considering that Sam and Top are only 16 and 18, respectively. But don’t worry; it’s not pornographic at all. The kisses are within a wholesome context. It adds to the already kilig formula of the story too. Plus, you’d also appreciate the graphic emoticons all over the book.

TBYD Series

Talk Back and You’re Dead is written by Wattpad author Alesana Marie. It is published by PSICOM (the same publication which had brought numerous bestselling Tagalog romcoms) and distributed throughout National Bookstore outlets nationwide. Like DNP which is published in 4 volumes (at least on print but not online), TBYD would leave you wanting more because the novel is in 3 books. Book 2 and book 3 are entitled Don’t Talk Back to a Gangster and When She Talked Back. These are both available online but as always, I’d rather wait until a condensed, summarized, and edited book version is released. :D

By the way, like DNP, TBYD is soon to be adapted into a film by Viva Films. 

I Love TBYD

This books following is overwhelming. You’d see fan pages in social network sites, fan made videos, and more. I love it for the action packed chapters along with the countless kilig moments and the original storyline. I fell in love with the characters too, particularly Sam and Top.